I am about to purchase a HVX-200 for a shoot that needs to be delivered to the client in NTSC (Digital Betacam) and also be available for my own broadcast documentary project in PAL. I intend to shoot 720p for the variable frame rate features and for archiving. Approx 10 hours of selected footage and a 15 minute cut will need to be delivered in NTSC.
The consensus seems to be that 24p, as opposed to 25p, is the best shooting option for NTSC/PAL compatability as it conforms to the traditional film route - apply pulldown to 60i for NTSC and speed up to 25p for PAL.
Does anyone have experience originating on 25p and delivering on NTSC, ie. 25p - to 24p - to 60i ? Is the resulting 60i footage likely to look any different from 24p originating footage in terms of image quality and motion/judder (I understand it will play 4% slower which is no problem). My main concern is that the footage is a reasonable match for the client's NTSC DigiBeta archive, but my ability to use the footage in PAL projects is also important.
If I can achieve a good result from a 25p PAL HVX that may be the best option because I can buy the camera locally. Conversely, is anyone purposely shooting 24p for PAL projects for the cross format flexibility and the added frame rates? I need to decide on a PAL or NTSC camera ASAP!
Any 24p/25p - 60i workflow advice is appreciated (prefer Mac and FCP/plugin solutions). Will 10 hours of footage take days and days of processing? Is a good dubbing facility likely to achieve a better quality outcome than using FCP? Their process is: 1. FCP - HD tape 2. HD tape - pulldown - NTSC DigiBeta at a cost of about $300 per hour X 10 (but otherwise painless).
I am still learning the complexities of post. Thanks for reading!
The consensus seems to be that 24p, as opposed to 25p, is the best shooting option for NTSC/PAL compatability as it conforms to the traditional film route - apply pulldown to 60i for NTSC and speed up to 25p for PAL.
Does anyone have experience originating on 25p and delivering on NTSC, ie. 25p - to 24p - to 60i ? Is the resulting 60i footage likely to look any different from 24p originating footage in terms of image quality and motion/judder (I understand it will play 4% slower which is no problem). My main concern is that the footage is a reasonable match for the client's NTSC DigiBeta archive, but my ability to use the footage in PAL projects is also important.
If I can achieve a good result from a 25p PAL HVX that may be the best option because I can buy the camera locally. Conversely, is anyone purposely shooting 24p for PAL projects for the cross format flexibility and the added frame rates? I need to decide on a PAL or NTSC camera ASAP!
Any 24p/25p - 60i workflow advice is appreciated (prefer Mac and FCP/plugin solutions). Will 10 hours of footage take days and days of processing? Is a good dubbing facility likely to achieve a better quality outcome than using FCP? Their process is: 1. FCP - HD tape 2. HD tape - pulldown - NTSC DigiBeta at a cost of about $300 per hour X 10 (but otherwise painless).
I am still learning the complexities of post. Thanks for reading!
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